Afterlife
by x.emostrawberry.x
Summary: The War has finally ended with Aizen's death, and everyone can relax again. However, Fate decides to mess up Ichigo's life. When Ichigo is killed, he is sent to Soul Society to attend the Shinigami Academy. Join him on his newest adventures! AU-ish.
1. Konso for a Dead Strawberry

Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach. I don't! (Though if I did, Hisagi-sama would be MINE! XD)

* * *

Chapter 1: Konso for a Dead Strawberry

The orange-haired man sighed, staring out across the river at the deep crimson sky. He was currently seated on the bank of the river by which his mother had died. As he looked at the vibrant sunset, Ichigo's thoughts wandered back along the years to his mother's death, the catalyst for everything that had occurred in the past four years.

It was because of his mother's death that made him strive for the power to protect, to battle against unfair odds, and save those that were his friends and family. It was for his mother that he accepted Rukia's power and became a Shinigami, and he didn't regret that decision one bit.

Now four years later, Ichigo was nineteen and ready to start college. Though between becoming a Shinigami—not once, but twice, saving Rukia and Orihime, making a truce with his inner hollow, and fighting Aizen, college was going to be a breeze.

Getting up, Ichigo turned away from the river and the slowly darkening sky, heading in the general direction of his home. Lost in thought, he failed to see the incoming car until its brakes squealed loudly against the pavement of the street.

Ichigo's head shot up and his eyes widened as he saw the wildly careening car head directly toward him. His last thought before the car slammed headlong into him was 'Shit!' Then the car made contact with his body, and Ichigo flew across the street to crash into the pavement before everything went blissfully dark.

A few minutes later, when he came to, Ichigo discovered he was in his soul reaper form. He looked around and found his mangled, bloody, dead body lying crushed halfway under the car, with blood forming a dark pool around it.

Ichigo walked over to the car and bent down to drag his dead body out from under it. After hauling it to a nearby lamp post, he walked over to the car and promptly smashed the driver's window. Looking in, Ichigo saw an unconscious man with scruffy brown hair and an unshaven face smelling strongly of alcohol snoring against the wheel. "Figures," scoffed Ichigo, "Of all the possible deaths I could have had, I just had to be killed in a car crash, by a drunk driver no less."

Fuming, Ichigo hoisted his dead body over his shoulder and headed for the Urahara Shoten using shunpo. When he arrived, he noticed the lights were on and there were people arguing inside, the most discernable one being Renji.

Smirking, Ichigo lowered his body by the steps and walked into the small candy shop without knocking. He looked around the empty room, before seeing the door of an adjoining room ajar. Ichigo walked into the room and saw Renji, Rukia, Yoruichi and Urahara sitting together at a low table, drinking tea and discussing (or yelling in Renji's case) a subject unknown to him.

As soon as he entered the room, all heads swiveled in his direction. "Good evening, Kurosaki-san!" said Urahara in his sing-song voice, while whipping out his infamous fan and waving it around.

Ichigo felt a vein start throbbing in his forehead and sighed, rolling his eyes at the annoying shop-keeper. Then he let the proverbial bomb drop—"I'm dead," Ichigo stated simply.

Four pairs of eyes widened at the same time in shock, while four jaws dropped open in surprise.

Suddenly Renji shouted out with a wide smirk on his face. "So...how did the _great_ Kurosaki Ichigo, _hero _of the Arrancar War, _**die**_?" "Please don't omit the details, Kurosaki-san!" added Urahara, while hiding behind his well-known fan.

Ichigo growled in annoyance and slight embarrassment. Taking a deep breath, Ichigo expelled it out all at once muttering, "."

"What's that Strawberry?" asked Rukia in her falsely sweet school voice. Ichigo scowled darkly, shot Rukia a death glare which she ignored and muttered very quickly, "I was killed in a car crash by a drunk driver." Following this statement, he glared around the room daring anyone to make a noise.

As soon as Renji's brain comprehended Ichigo's cause of death, he fell over laughing and started mocking Ichigo, who promptly hauled Renji up by the collar and slugged him in the face which then led to a fierce fist fight.

Rukia sighed at this all too familiar scene and set to breaking the two arguing Shinigamis up. Meanwhile, in the background Yoruichi was whispering excitedly to Urahara, who occasionally whispered back and nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, Yoruichi looked at Ichigo slyly. "Time for you to show us what happened!" she exclaimed. The dark-skinned women leapt up and quickly shoved Ichigo outside despite his protests, yelling after him, "Bring your body inside!" Then the feline-like woman turned to her partners-in-crime and said, "So, this is the plan..." and quietly whispered her idea.

Meanwhile Ichigo staggered out the front door and tripped over the top step and his feet, crashing to a halt next to his dead body. "Ugh," groaned Ichigo, while slowly getting up. "Why does the world hate me?" he asked to the night sky. Sighing, (again) he dragged his prone body up the steps and into the now deserted shop.

"Wait, deserted?" wondered Ichigo as he let his body fall to the floor with a dull thud. Hearing a slight shuffling sound, Ichigo looked up to see the glowing hilt of a Zanpakuto strike his forehead. The last thing he heard before slipping into a blackness as dark as Hueco Mundo's night sky was Urahara's carefree voice calling, "Bye-bye, Kurosaki-san! (insert heart here)"

* * *

**A/N:** You like? Please review; comments and critics are welcome! Hope I didn't make anyone too OOC...


	2. Arrival: Old Faces

Disclaimer: Tite Kubo owns Bleach. I don't. :(

* * *

Chapter 2: Arrival: Old Faces

When Ichigo came to, he noticed several things, four to be exact. 1. His Zanpakuto, Zangetsu, was missing. 2. He was on a branch. In a tree. A frigging tree! 3. He was definitely not in Karakura Town. Hell, he wasn't even in the Living World anymore! 4. His shihakusho was replaced by a simple dark blue yukata decorated with black crescent moons and a matching dark blue obi sash.

Leaping down from the tree, Ichigo scanned his surroundings before concluding he was alone. Thinking back, he remembered that he was killed, had gone to Urahara's, but then what?

"I'll just shunpo around and see where I am," Ichigo decided. Raising his reiatsu slightly, Ichigo leapt up and ran across the sky to a small brown huddle of buildings. As he arrived, he realized that he had been sent to Soul Society. "Figures," thought Ichigo, "Only _they_ would have come up with that."

Springing down to the ground, Ichigo ran the short distance to Jidanbou, the guard of one of Seireitei's four gates, and the first person he met when rescuing Rukia. "Hey! Jidanbou!" Ichigo shouted at the big gatekeeper, "Can you let me in?"

"Hmm? Who's that?" wondered Jidanbou. Looking down, he saw the orange haired Shinigami waving up at him. "Oh, hello Ichigo. Let you in? Sorry, can't do that." Replied the gatekeeper. "However, someone by the name of 'Urahara-sama' told me to give this to you." This said, Jidanbou crouched down and handed Ichigo a thick creamy-white envelope.

Ichigo twitched when he heard the honorific '-sama,' but ignored it in favor of asking, "Why not?" as he accepted the envelope. Looking at the front, he noticed there was no return address and the envelope was devoid of writing except for the name 'Shirosaki Sora' written in an untidy scrawl across the center.

"He never told me," was the giant's unconcerned reply. "Hmm, typical," muttered Ichigo. Walking over to the wall of seki-seki stone, Ichigo leaned against it to read the letter from the annoying shop-keeper.

_Hello Kurosaki-kun!_

_I hope you are enjoying your first visit to Soul Society. (Well, first legalized visit.) Anyway, due to several important figures' insistence, it has been decided that you should attend the Shinigami Academy. Everything has been arranged with Headmaster Ukitake, and you are now to go by the alias 'Shirosaki Sora.'_

_All _you_ have to do is go to the Shinigami Academy, take the test, then go to the classes for a whole year. After that, you're free to do whatever you like. However no one may know your true name and status as a hero of the War while you are in the Academy._

_Included is a reiatsu sealing bracelet. Please wear this at all times, as we all know you don't possess the ability to hide your reiatsu! Also Zangetsu is in Captain Ukitake's office. You may get him back once you learn how to seal him._

_See you soon! _

_Urahara_

_P.S. Rukia and Renji say hi._

_P.P.S. Did I mention not to run away from Soul Society? Well, now you know. You _will _go through a year at the Academy, whether you like it or not._

_Bye-bye!_

"Stupid Geta-Boshi," growled Ichigo as he finished the letter. He took the envelope and turned it upside down. Out fell a dusky black chain link bracelet with a dark crescent moon as the center link/clasp.

Slipping it onto his wrist, Ichigo immediately felt the difference in his reiatsu. "At least one thing's going to be reliable here," he muttered. Shouting his thanks at Jidanbou, Ichigo quickly headed for the Academy via shunpo.

Arriving in a small clearing by the edge of the woods, Ichigo ran lightly out into the sunlight. He found himself on a small cheerful field dotted with people. Walking up to the closest Shinigami, he asked "Do you know where I go to get tested?"

"Yeah," the Shinigami answered in a bored tone. "Go to the building over there," he said pointing at a large tan building at the far end of the field, "And then tell the person at the desk your name. When it's called enter the building to get tested. There'll be some instructors inside who'll test you on the four main skills of a Shinigami: Hoho, Kido, Zanjutsu and Hakuda. They'll also test you to see what your reiatsu level is. If you pass, your name will be announced when everyone's done testing."

Saying this, the Shinigami nodded at Ichigo then left. "Okay then..." muttered Ichigo. He turned to the elegant building and walked slowly over to it, inspecting the people he passed along the way. Walking up to the Shinigami in charge of collecting the names, he said, "I'm Ku-I mean Shirosaki Sora and I was told to sign up here for the Academy tests?"

The Shinigami in charge looked up suspiciously at Ichigo's slight slip-up, but recorded the new name anyways. After she finished signing him up, she said, "Please place your hand palm down on the white tablet over there. It's to measure your spiritual pressure.

Ichigo nodded and stuck his right hand on the small block of stone. The Shinigami glanced at the reader and scribbled 'ABOVE AVERGE' next to Ichigo's fake name.

"Alright," the Shinigami said. "The tests are starting tomorrow morning. Make sure you don't wander too far. We're doing the tests in alphabetical order, so it may take a few days to get to you. Once you hear your name, go into the building behind me and the instructors in there will test you to see if you are capable of joining the Shinigami Academy. Good day."

Ichigo nodded and headed over to a stand of trees to wait. As he was walking over, he saw a flash of light blue/teal hair and then heard a high-pitched childish voice screaming, "Itsygo!" before he was tackled to the ground.

"What the—Nel!?" yelped Ichigo trying to get Nel off him. "What are you doing here?"

"Che, still the dumbass." Grimmjow remarked, coming up behind Ichigo. "We're DEAD, if you had forgotten, thus we're here, in Soul Society, the land of the DEAD."

"You too!?" Ichigo shouted at the blue-haired ex-Espada.

"Yup, and Mr. Emo here too," replied Grimmjow waving his hand at Ulquiorra.

"Be quiet," commanded Ulquiorra in a monotone voice. "You are making a scene."

"Come with me, Itsygo," exclaimed Nel happily.

"As if I have a choice," muttered Ichigo under his breath as he was dragged away into the forest by Nel. Grimmjow laughed at Ichigo's expense and charged in after them. Ulquiorra sighed at the foolishness of such trash, but turned to follow them. However he first sent a death glare in the direction of all the spectators, scaring them away a good distance.

Restraining from rolling his eyes, (which was an action reserved for trash) Ulquiorra turned and walked into the forest, following the other three's reiatsu. Nearing the clearing, Ulquiorra heard Ichigo and Grimmjow shouting at each other bickering about one thing or another, that, quite frankly Ulquiorra didn't care about.

However, as he stepped into the clearing, a fist swung immediately in his direction, courtesy of Grimmjow, who was actually aiming at Ichigo. Ulquiorra quickly step sided the attack, and raised his reiatsu slightly to get everyone to stop.

"Huh, so you finally showed up," grouched Grimmjow. "Now you can explain to dumbass over here what's going on."

"Hey!" Ichigo shouted, "Who are you to be calling me dumbass, you bastard!"

"Be quiet," Ulquiorra commanded before the two started another fight. "If you really want to know why we are here, Kurosaki, it is because of you."

"Me!? What's this got with me?" shouted Ichigo in exasperation.

"Don't think you're so good and mighty, dumbass," Grimmjow shot in, "It's because of your Zanpakuto."

"He is right," agreed Ulquiorra. "When you killed Grimmjow and myself with your Zanpakuto, we were cleansed of our hollow side and sent here."

"Then what about Nel? No one killed her," asked Ichigo.

"Nel came here becathz Nel heard that Itsygo wath here!" exclaimed Nel in her happy-kid-lisp voice.

"...But why don't you have your hollow mask?" questioned Ichigo curiously.

"Oh...That'th becathz Nel met a blond guy with geta and he gave Nel a gigai!

"Ok, then. Seems like you know Urahara now... Anyways, what are you guys doing _here_, as in the Shinigami Academy?" Ichigo corrected seeing Grimmjow about to give a smart-aleck reply.

"We felt your reiatsu and came to check it out," replied Grimmjow. "By the way, what the hell are _you_ doing here? And why are you wearing that!?" asked/shouted Grimmjow pointing at Ichigo's dark blue yukata.

At this question, Ichigo flushed a deep mortified crimson and refused to answer, looking anywhere but Grimmjow.

Grimmjow blinked in surprise at this change of attitude while Nel started pestering Ichigo to answer the question. "Well? Why are you here? Itsygo! Anther me! Itsygo!"

Suddenly, the ever quiet Ulquiorra butted into the conversation. "Kurosaki, did you _die_?"

Grimmjow barked out a harsh laugh. "As if he'll ever die! And if he does, it'll be by my hand and my blade!" he shouted. However, Ichigo's tomato red face and tense body told the three what really happened.

When the clearing descended into silence, Grimmjow took in Ichigo's tense look and promptly started laughing again. "So you _did_ die!" he shouted out in between laughs.

Ichigo glared at Grimmjow and as with Renji, tackled him to the ground and started pummeling Grimmjow. Nel meanwhile, danced around the two and exclaimed, "Yay! Now Nel can play with Itsygo wheneva she wanths!"

Ulquiorra, unable to take the commotion of the two pieces of trash and a noisy child, raised his reiatsu slightly once more, and hissed, "Stop."

The two rivals fell apart, sporting various bruises, and Nel quieted down, all three turning to look at Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra looked at the three before saying, "As I am dead and possess a fair amount of spiritual pressure, I have decided I shall join this Shinigami Academy. There is nothing else to do in this world, and I would like to make use of this chance to do something worthwhile with the rest of my afterlife."

Ichigo and Grimmjow stared at Ulquiorra in shock after his declaration. Nel however didn't miss a beat. "I'll join too!" the childish ex-Espada proclaimed. At this, Ichigo swiveled his head to look at Nel. "W-what!?"

Grimmjow tensed at Nel's words and then yelled out, "Fine! I'll join this Academy too! (A/N: That's his ego speaking) Ichigo stared at the three ex-Espadas and just shook his head before saying, "Come on then, I'll have to get you guys signed up...Oh yeah, you might want to use an alibi, it'll be better if the Shinigami didn't know that ex-Espadas were here."

"Very well," agreed Ulquiorra. "Ok!" exclaimed Nel, "I'm gonna be Nelly now!" All three guys anime sweat dropped, but continued toward the Academy. Ichigo lead the three to the sign-up desk and waited off to the side as the ex-Espadas checked-in with the Shinigami.

"Hi! My name is Nelly Odelschivank!" declared Nel. "I wanna join the Thinigami Academy!" The Shinigami in charge of recording names stared at Nel in surprise. "O-Oh, ok. Place your hand palm down on the white stone over there." She instructed shakily.

"Sure!" agreed Nel. She stood on her toes and placed her hand against the pale seki-seki stone. The Shinigami looked at the reader and then wrote 'Nel-AVERAGE' in the record book she had in front of her.

"All done, Nelly. Next?" Grimmjow stepped forward and slapped his hand on the seki-seki stone. "Yo, I'm Grim Jaques." Ichigo snorted at the unoriginal name, while Ulquiorra simply blinked.

The Shinigami frowned at Grimmjow's seemingly rude action, but recorded the name and 'ABOVE AVERAGE' in the registration book. Ulquiorra placed his hand on the white stone and said in a monotone voice, "Ulrich Cifer."

The woman nodded and wrote down the name and 'SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE' next to it. "Alright, the testing will start tomorrow morning, so don't stray far. You will be called up in alphabetical order by last name. When you hear your name, go into the building over there," the Shinigami instructed as she pointed to a large wooden building behind her. "You will be tested on the four main skills of a Shinigami: Hoho, Kido, Zanjutsu and Hakuda. If you pass, your name will be announced after all the tests are over."

The four left the desk after listening to the Shinigami's instructions. "Tho... now what?" asked Nel. Ichigo answered. "I guess we find a place for the night..." he said as he looked around for a place to sleep.

Meanwhile, Grimmjow started pestering Ulquiorra. "Why'd you get "Slightly above average?" You used to be the _Cuatro_ Espada. Did you get weak or something?" Ulquiorra glanced at Grimmjow in disdain, and grudgingly replied when it seemed as if Grimmjow would continue his interrogation if he didn't answer. "I, unlike some others, decided to not show my full potential."

Grimmjow fell silent at those words, and then turned away with a slight noise of annoyance.

After some walking, the four came upon a grass covered hill next to the testing area. There were already a few people sleeping or resting there, so Ichigo led the ex-Espadas to a deserted patch of grass for the night.

"G'night!" exclaimed Nel, as she plopped down on the ground, falling asleep immediately. Ichigo looked at Nel and smiled softly, before lying against the hill on his back looking at the stars. Ulquiorra disappeared to the tree line and leaned against a tree, looking out over the horizon meditatively. Grimmjow, like Nel, hit the ground and went straight to sleep.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: **Hope you guys enjoyed this! Next Chapter: The long-awaited tests! Please review. :)


End file.
